Rangers confirm striker Youssef Chermiti suffers torn ACL
Last updated 11th Aug 2026
Rangers’ dismal start to the season has taken a turn for the worse after key striker Youssef Chermiti was ruled out for the foreseeable future with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.
The 22-year-old was carried off on a stretcher in the first half of Sunday’s 2-1 William Hill Premiership defeat by Hibernian after landing awkwardly while trying to challenge Josh Mulligan for a loose ball in the penalty area.
“Following assessment, striker Youssef Chermiti suffered an ACL injury in Sunday’s match with Hibernian,” read a statement from Rangers on Tuesday.
“Youssef will be out of action for a significant period of time. Everyone at Rangers is with him as he begins his recovery.”
Chermiti joined Rangers for ÂŁ9million from Everton last summer and after a difficult start to his time at Ibrox, in which he scored just one goal in his first 18 appearances, he showed a notable improvement in the second half of the season under Danny Rohl and took his tally for the campaign to 15.
Just prior to the Hibs game, the Portuguese forward was the subject of a failed bid from Galatasaray, with boss Derek McInnes revealing at the weekend: “I’m led to believe the club’s valuation of the player hasn’t been met.”
The fact Rangers can neither cash in on Chermiti or depend on him for goals any time soon is a huge blow at a time when they are under intense pressure from their supporters after failing to win any of their first three games under McInnes.
Typical recovery from the knee injury takes 6-12 months.
Asked at a club shareholders’ meeting on Monday why Rangers had risked playing Chermiti at a time when there was strong interest in him from elsewhere, owner Andrew Cavenagh said: “Just because someone lobs an unsolicited offer in on one sheet of paper, you don’t yank a player from a really important match.”
Chermiti’s impending absence leaves newly recruited captain Lawrence Shankland, Ryan Naderi and Bojan Miovski as Rangers’ only available senior strikers ahead of the second leg of their Europa League qualifier with Jagiellonia Bialystok at Ibrox on Thursday.
The club are close to augmenting their attacking options, however, with 24-year-old winger Couhaib Driouech poised to complete a ÂŁ7m transfer from PSV Eindhoven.
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